The Pacific Northwest Center for Translational Environmental Health Research offers pilot project grants to support new and innovative research in environmental health.

These grants are designed to provide short-term investments to Center members and can be used by Center members to:

  • Collect preliminary research data for a larger research proposal.
  • Get priority access the Center’s Core facilities and services.
  • Foster new collaborations that will advance environmental health science, community engagement, or research translation.
  • Test new and innovative ideas that advance the mission of the Center and NIEHS.

Application Due Date: January 31st, 2024 or upon request for time sensitive applications.

Award Budget: Applicants can request up to $30,000 with an additional $10,000 to cover Core Services (if needed) for a total of $40,000. Please contact the Core Directors when developing your application to get accurate information regarding methodology, prices, etc.

Award Project Period/Timeline: All projects should be able to be completed within 9 months. Projects can apply for extensions for an additional 3 months. Thus, the maximum project period of 12 months and the ability to execute the project in a timely factor will be used as a review criteria.

Eligibility: Pacific Northwest Center for Translational Environmental Health Research Center Members. Click here to learn about becoming a member.

Application Review Process: All proposals will undergo peer review by a panel of scientists with the goal of selecting the most meritorious proposals for funding. Proposals that utilize Center Core facilities and services will be reviewed more favorably and have access to additional funds to pay for these services. However, you are not required to use the Center’s Core facilities and services if they are not necessary for your proposal.

Image showing the application review process. Stage 1: Short written application. Panel reviews proposal using NIH criteria and award criteria. Stage 2: Top-ranked proposals selected for Ignite Pitch followed by Q&A. Panel selects award recipients. Stage 3: Notice of award sent to PIs within 48 hours of Ignite pitch. Goal is to disperse funds within 5 weeks of application deadline.

Core Usage: Applicants are encouraged to use one or more of the Cores to achieve their research goals. As you prepare your application, you should be in consultation with the Core directors to ensure the viability of your project. Core directors will provide you with a letter that will need to be attached to your Judgify application.

Budget Form: When you submit your application (Vanguard and Strategic Initiative Awards), you will need the budget form available here.

These funds are not intended to fund institutional overhead at non-OSU institutions. No funds will be awarded to support: 1) salaries for faculty members, administrative staff, or graduate research assistants; 2) fixed-asset equipment (single item $5K or greater). Any request for salary must be clearly justified in the context of the pilot project. For proposals submitted from non-OSU institutions, the institutions must agree to waive their institution’s F&A costs.

Request For Proposals: There are three types of awards in the Pilot Project Program. Each award has different requirements. Please read the requirements carefully to select the appropriate award for your application. You can also apply for one of these awards as a time-sensitive application outside of the funding cycle timeline.

This is an investigator-initiated program award.

  • Applications for the Vanguard Award must align with NIEHS’s mission and at least one element of their strategic plan.
  • Must demonstrate how the proposed study is advancing methodology or theory, creating a new interdisciplinary collaboration, or testing a new intervention in the real world, or is engaging a community or partner.
  • You will required to complete the following sections the submission form:
    • Specific Aim(s) and hypotheses (≤400 words)
    • Significance and Innovation (≤700 words)
    • Approach (≤1400 words)
    • Statement of how the project will lead to a larger, future grant application (≤250 words)
    • Statement of how the project will advance NIEHS strategic goal(s) (≤250 words)
    • Plan for obtaining Animal welfare/Human Subjects (if needed)
    • Core service needs

Click here to sign up for Judgify and complete the submission form.

This is an investigator-initiated program award that requires the PI to have an established relationship with a community or interested party.

  • Applications for the Strategic Initiative Award must align with NIEHS’s mission and at least one element of their strategic plan.
  • Must demonstrate how the proposed study is a bilateral collaboration between the PI and community or interested party. A letter of support must be provided by the research partner that describes how the study and preliminary data that will be collected meet the needs of that interested party.
  • You will required to complete the following sections the submission form:
    • Specific Aim(s) and hypotheses (≤400 words)
    • Significance and Innovation (≤700 words)
    • Approach (≤1400 words)
    • Statement of how the project will lead to a larger, future grant application (≤250 words)
    • Statement of how the project will advance NIEHS strategic goal(s) (≤250 words)
    • Plan for obtaining Animal welfare/Human Subjects (if needed)
    • Core service needs
    • Letters of Support from Community or Partner(s) detailing:
      • How the partner will collaborate with the Center researcher on the project
      • How the project is addressing the community or research partner environmental health science need and how the community or research partner intends to utilize the information generated by the project

Click here to sign up for Judgify and complete the submission form.

This program will support new or mid-career investigators who are nominated by their department chairs and/or Center Directors.

  • Nominees must be a new or mid-career investigator (as defined by NIH).
  • Nominees must be a Center member and/or agree to become a Center member
  • Nominees must be able to contribute to interdisciplinary approaches and/or be able to advance environmental health science research
  • Nominees must have scientific interests that align with NIEHS’s mission and at least one element of their strategic plan
  • You will required to complete the following sections the submission form:
    • Statement from the nominee describing how they will contribute to the Pacific Northwest Center for Translational Environmental Health Research (≤800 words). This statement should include:
      • The nominee’s environmental health science research interest and expertise; and how these align with NIEHS’s strategic plan
      • The nominee’s ability to contribute to the Center’s environmental health science expertise
      • The nominee’s interest in partaking in Center-sponsored activities
    • Current biosketch

Click here to sign up for Judgify and complete the submission form.

Funding is available for time-sensitive opportunities that arise and require timely data collection, such as in the advent of a chemical spill, natural disaster or other emergency-type situation. These requests will require the same written application but will undergo an expedited review using the leadership team and advisory board members, with funding decisions made within 2 weeks of submission.

If you have questions about time sensitive funding and/or are unsure which award to apply for, contact Dr. Molly Kile ([email protected])

All awards should:
  • have a clear plan for future actions and funding that will build on the preliminary data to be collected.
  • clearly articulate how the proposed study and future action(s) will advance discovery of how the environment affects human biology and health, and/or can inform prevention and intervention strategies that can improve the health of individuals, communities, and populations.

Pilot program priorities: Applications that have a high potential to drive innovation and environmental health science research translation will be prioritized in the review process. Innovation is defined using the following prism: i) projects that display creative environmental health science problem solving through the adoption of interdisciplinary scientific thinking, ii) incorporating emerging technology, methods, or data, and/or iii) tackle emerging environmental health science issues. Since the Center highly values research translation, pilot projects will also be prioritized that articulate how their project fits within the NIEHS research translation framework and can ultimately influence changes in environmental exposures, population health, clinical practice, or economic advancements.

Expectations for awardees:

In addition to completing their pilot project studies, award recipients will be expected to:

  • Undergo an on-boarding session that will explain their roles and responsibilities as an NIEHS P30 Center funded PI.
  • Complete the Center’s Project Execution Plan and Discovery Index and/or Community Engagement Plan.
  • Provide an oral interim progress report after 6 months
  • Submit a 500 word progress report after 12 months that will be included in the Center’s formal NIEHS annual report
  • Complete an annual electronic survey for 5 consecutive years to track outcomes from the pilot project

Click here to sign up for Judgify and complete the submission form.

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